Transform into ancestral tablets and create a supreme immortal clan.

Feeling like he had been tricked, he abandoned Master Yunhe and unleashed a golden sword light that was even more refined and faster than when he was chasing Shen Muge!

Xiao Yuanqing and Master Yunhe also made their moves, unleashing several terrifying spells and magical artifacts that traversed space and enveloped the fleeing shadow.

They can tolerate their cubs being snatched away by other Golden Core cultivators, but they absolutely cannot tolerate a Foundation Establishment junior profiting from it!

Shen Muge was terrified. The effect of the Shadow Escape Talisman rapidly diminished under the angry lock-on of several Golden Core cultivators, forcing her to emerge from the shadows.

The aura of death emanating from behind made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave, almost suffocating him.

He gritted his teeth and slapped all the remaining defensive talismans onto his body, pushing his speed to the limit.

"Pfft!" The golden sword energy caught up first, easily tearing through more than a dozen layers of light shields, and slashed hard at his back!

Shen Muge coughed up blood, and his top-grade protective inner armor creaked as it shattered under the strain. He was thrown forward like a rag doll, crashing into several giant rocks, but he still held tightly to the spirit beast pouch in his hand.

His breath instantly became extremely weak, his vision began to blur, and he smiled bitterly to himself: "This time... I've really messed up..."

The flames, vines, and mirror-like light that followed were about to completely engulf him.

At the critical moment.

A calm and indifferent voice seemed to resonate directly in everyone's soul.

"This road is blocked. Please take a detour."

Before the words had even faded, a figure in a blue robe wearing an ancient bronze mask appeared out of thin air in front of Shen Muge, like a ghost.

No one saw how he arrived; it was as if he had always been there.

Faced with the combined attack of several Golden Core cultivators in a fit of rage, the masked man simply raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and gently pressed forward.

There was no earth-shattering fanfare.

The flames, vines, mirror-like light, and even Gu Zhenting's main attacking golden sword light, which were enough to flatten a mountain, seemed to have hit an invisible, intangible yet indestructible wall when they reached three feet in front of the man's palm.

Silently and eerily, it stagnated and solidified, and then... disintegrated and vanished inch by inch, turning into the most primordial spiritual energy points and dissipating!

"What?!"

Gu Zhenting's pupils shrank sharply, and Xiao Yuanqing and the others were also horrified.

This seemingly casual move demonstrated a mastery of power that was both exquisite and overwhelming, far beyond their comprehension!

The masked man, Shen Xiao, slowly withdrew his hand, his gaze sweeping coldly over the Golden Core cultivators in the air through the mask.

His aura remained as restrained as that of an ordinary person, but at this moment, in the eyes of everyone, he was more terrifying than a ferocious beast from the primordial era.

"Early stage of Golden Core... No, that's not right!" Gu Zhenting stared intently at Shen Xiao, trying to see through the illusion, but he only felt that the other party was like an abyss, unfathomable.

He knew he could never have taken that blow so easily.

"Who are you? Why are you interfering in the affairs of my Gu family?" Gu Zhenting suppressed his shock and anger and asked in a deep voice.

Shen Xiao did not answer, but only glanced down at Shen Muge, who was seriously injured and unconscious, still clutching the spirit beast pouch tightly in his hand, and a trace of coldness flashed across his face.

He looked up again, his gaze locking onto Gu Zhenting, the one who had just attacked the most ruthlessly and was also the leader of the Gu family.

"You hurt him." A simple statement.

Before he could finish speaking, Shen Xiao's figure vanished abruptly.

"Watch out!" another Golden Core elder of the Gu family shouted in alarm.

Gu Zhenting felt his hair stand on end, an unprecedented crisis of death looming over him. Without hesitation, he summoned his natal magic weapon, the Golden Seal, to protect his entire body, while simultaneously retreating rapidly.

However, it was too late.

A slender, fair hand, seemingly untouched by worldly concerns, had somehow pierced through the heavy golden light emanating from the golden seal and gently pressed against Gu Zhenting's chest.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment.

The look of shock on Gu Zhenting's face froze.

He looked down, staring in disbelief at his chest.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no blood splattering.

But wherever that palm touched, his protective true essence, his resilient body, and even the pulsating golden core within him all began to dissipate silently, like dust being wiped away!

This seems to be the power of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements operating at their extreme.

But how could there be a cultivator in this world who possesses all seven spiritual root attributes of Yin, Yang and the Five Elements at the same time?

This is simply a fantasy!

Gu Zhenting's face was filled with shock and fear, which lingered for a long time.

From the point of contact between his palm and his body, his body rapidly became transparent and ethereal, leaving not even a speck of dust behind.

Only the golden seal, now without its owner and its radiance dimmed, fell to the ground with a clatter.

Gu Zhenting, the mid-stage Golden Core ancestor of the Gu family, has fallen!

His body and soul were both destroyed; his death was both bizarre and utter!

The entire venue fell into dead silence!

Xiao Yuanqing, Yunhe Zhenren, Mu Qingshan, the two rogue Golden Core cultivators, and all the cultivators watching from afar were all struck dumb, their eyes wide with disbelief, and their bodies turned ice cold.

A mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, a figure who could protect his family for hundreds of years in the Southern Chu cultivation world, was so easily killed, as if swatting a mosquito.

What level of cultivation has this masked man reached?

A Golden Core cultivator at the Great Perfection stage? Or... a Nascent Soul stage monster?!

Fear, like the coldest ice water, instantly seeped into everyone's bones.

Shen Xiao slowly withdrew his hand, as if he had only done a trivial matter.

His gaze swept over the other Golden Core cultivators who remained silent in fear, his voice still calm: "Is there anyone else who wants this cub, or who wants to stand up for the Gu family?"

No one answered. Xiao Yuanqing's lips twitched, and he subconsciously took a half step back.

Master Yunhe's face was deathly pale, and sweat beaded on his forehead.

Mu Qingshan lowered his head, not daring to meet his gaze.

Shen Xiao said no more, bent down and picked up the unconscious Shen Muge, and with his other hand he grabbed the unclaimed golden seal and Gu Zhenting's storage bag in mid-air.

Without even glancing at anyone else, he turned around, took a step, and his figure merged into the void, disappearing as if he had never existed.

All that remained was a battlefield littered with debris.

Of the three spirit fox cubs, one was taken by that despicable Foundation Establishment junior.

Although the other one was obtained by Gu Zhenting, it was eventually taken away as a trophy by the mysterious masked man.

The last one, however, was acquired by the Xiao family.

A group of Golden Core cultivators were shocked, their fear lingered, and they were wary of each other, harboring deep-seated hatred.

After a long silence, Xiao Yuanqing finally spoke, his voice hoarse and strained: "Who exactly is this person? That Foundation Establishment junior... actually has such a terrifying backer."

No one could answer.

The battle of Motian Ridge ended tragically with the loss of a mid-stage Golden Core ancestor of the Gu family, the deaths and injuries of many cultivators, and the suspected theft of two spirit fox cubs by a red-clad youth and a mysterious masked man.

This battle has stirred up undercurrents in the cultivation families of Southern Chu. The Gu family has suffered a great loss of strength, and the Xiao, Yun, and Mu families have also suffered considerable damage. Old grudges and new hatreds are intertwined.

The terrifying legend of the mysterious bronze-masked man who could destroy golden pills with a flick of his finger spread like wildfire throughout Southern Chu, adding an even more mysterious and fearsome veil to the story.

The Xiao family acquired a spirit fox cub, and in order to appease the other Golden Core cultivators, they spared no expense, providing a massive amount of cultivation resources.

The conflict between the spirit foxes seems to have subsided.

But the real seeds of turmoil have already been sown.